Iran Denounces New Unjust US Sanctions

By Staff, Agencies

The United States has imposed new sanctions on Iran despite ongoing nuclear negotiations between the two countries, prompting Tehran to denounce Washington's contradictory positions.

In a statement released on Monday, the US Department of State designated three Iranian nationals and a company called Fuya Pars Prospective Technologists, claiming that they were involved in dual-use research and development activities applicable to nuclear weapons.

According to American officials, the sanctions freeze any assets that the targeted people and entity may have in the US and bans business dealings with them.

The new sanctions came a day after Iran and the US held the fourth round of indirect talks aimed at sealing a new accord on Iran’s nuclear program and the removal of sanctions on Tehran.

Both sides have agreed in principle to continue the Oman-mediated negotiations.

The fourth round of Iran-US indirect nuclear talks in Muscat marked a step forward as the two sides moved to discuss contentious issues.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Majid Takht-Ravanchi said that the timing of the next round of the talks has yet to be determined.

Takht-Ravanchi, who is a member of Iran's technical team in the talks, criticized the US government's contradictory behavior.

He said American officials' threatening and non-threatening statements fail to build confidence and instead cast doubts and suspicions on Washington's position.

“In their talks, they are interested in this work to proceed, and that is why we have held four rounds of talks, and the next round has not yet been scheduled, but it has been agreed upon in principle,” he said.

He added that Iranian people are under "deeply unjust" sanctions and that the country's diplomatic apparatus is trying to use its expertise to remove the bans.

"Sanctions are putting pressure on different segments of the population. Our effort in the diplomatic apparatus is to do our best to eliminate the sanctions within the framework of the country's policies," Takht-Ravanchi said.

However, "I don't want to say that the economic solution for the country is to lift sanctions", he noted.

"The main part of the work is to fix the economic situation inside the country and economic order must be established. But the next step is the external aspect, so that we can lift sanctions in order to solve the problems."

Takht-Ravanchi said while Iran is "moving along the path" of indirect negotiations with the US, "predicting the future is not easy". 

"We cannot give a timeframe for when these issues will be resolved and what the outcome will be. We are trying," he said.